Rare breed (agriculture)

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The American Cream Draft is listed as critically endangered by the American Livestock Conservancy American Cream Draft Horse.jpg
The American Cream Draft is listed as critically endangered by the American Livestock Conservancy

In modern agriculture, a rare breed is a breed of poultry or livestock that has a very small breeding population, usually from a few hundred to a few thousand. Because of their small numbers, rare breeds may have a threatened conservation status, and they may be protected under regional laws. Many countries have organizations devoted to the protection and promotion of rare breeds, for which they each have their own definition. In botany and horticulture, the parallel to rare animal breeds are heirloom plants, which are rare cultivars. [1]

Contents

Definitions

A rare breed Manx Loaghtan sheep at Cregneash, Isle Of Man. There are fewer than 1,500 registered breeding Manx Loaghtan females in the United Kingdom. Manx Loaghtan Sheep, Cregneash, Isle Of Man..jpg
A rare breed Manx Loaghtan sheep at Cregneash, Isle Of Man. There are fewer than 1,500 registered breeding Manx Loaghtan females in the United Kingdom.

There are several definitions of "breed" and "rare breed". Breeds may be defined as a group of animals that share visible characteristics, such as Pinto horses, which are all spotted. [3] A stricter definition insists that breeds are "consistent and predictable genetic entities", which means that individuals from that breed will produce offspring that is predictably similar to their genitors, and that this similarity is genetically based. [4] This biological definition is useful for conservation, which treats breeds as reliable sources of genetic diversity. [5]

Conservation organisations each have their own definition of what constitutes a rare breed. The Rare Breeds Survival Trust (RBST) and The Livestock Conservancy (TLC) both divide rare breeds into five categories, "critical" being the rarest. TLC places a livestock breed under "critical" status when it has "fewer than 200 annual registrations in the United States and estimated global population less than 2,000". [6] The RBST determines the status of a breed by the number of its breeding females in the United Kingdom. For horses and sheep, fewer than 300 is considered "critical", whereas goats and pigs must have fewer than 100 to join that category. [7]

The Poultry Club of Great Britain considers a poultry breed "Rare" when it does not have its own breed club. These "Rare Breeds" are catered by the Rare Poultry Society (RPS). [8] The RPS does not look after breeds that count few individuals but have their own breed club. [9]

The British Rabbit Council (BRC) notes in its breed standards [10] those rabbit breeds that have been recognized by the affiliated Rare Varieties Rabbit Club, [11] of which there are currently  26 breeds.

Causes

Major factors causing breeds to become rare are reported to include increased use of exotic breeds, weak policies and institutions in animal genetic resources management, neglect of certain breeds because of a lack of profitability or competitiveness, the intensification of production systems, the effects of diseases and disease management and loss of pastures or other elements of the production environment. In postwar Britain, for example, the introduction of the Poland China pig and the Texel sheep affected populations of historic breeds, which were seen as less profitable for farmers. [12]

Conservation

The Tamworth is a pig breed that is rare in both its native country and abroad. Mudchute farm pig side.jpg
The Tamworth is a pig breed that is rare in both its native country and abroad.

Several organizations – the Food and Agriculture Organization (United Nations), The Livestock Conservancy, the Rare Breeds Survival Trust (UK), Rare Breeds Canada, the SVF Foundation (US) – promote conservation of rare livestock and poultry breeds for their unique traits, which can contribute to general biodiversity and cultural heritage. Animal Husbandry can be important to livestock production in harsh environments and may contribute to the adaptation of livestock populations to challenges such as shifts in disease epidemiology, climate or market demands. [14]

Conservation activities may include in situ conservation programmes supporting the maintenance of breeds in their normal production environments (i.e. on farms, ranches or in pastoralist herds or flocks) [15] and ex situ conservation programmes in which animals are kept at sites such as zoos or special conservation farms or genetic material (e.g. semen or embryos) is maintained in a cryoconserved form. [16]

In 2009, The Livestock Conservancy launched an online classified advertising service for promoting rare breeds. It allows the general public to "browse listings of rare breed livestock and poultry for sale, rare breed products such as meats and wools and other items that help secure the future of rare breeds". [17]

Other interests of rare breeds

Beyond the concerns of conservation organisations, there are other reasons for individuals or groups to keep rare breed animals. Rare breeds can be popular with hobby farmers, as they often require less intensive management. [18] Some rare breeds are kept by tourist attractions for their value in attracting visitors. [19] Some farmers also prefer to sell meat from rare breeds, as they believe such breeds offer higher quality produce. [20]

See also

Related Research Articles

North Ronaldsay sheep Breed of sheep from Scotland

The North Ronaldsay or Orkney is a breed of sheep from North Ronaldsay, the northernmost island of Orkney, off the north coast of Scotland. It belongs to the Northern European short-tailed sheep group of breeds, and has evolved without much cross-breeding with modern breeds. It is a smaller sheep than most, with the rams (males) horned and ewes (females) mostly hornless. It was formerly kept primarily for wool, but now the two largest flocks are feral, one on North Ronaldsay and another on the Orkney island of Auskerry. The Rare Breeds Survival Trust lists the breed as "vulnerable", with fewer than 600 registered breeding females in the United Kingdom.

Suffolk Punch English breed of draught horse.

The Suffolk Horse, also historically known as the Suffolk Punch or Suffolk Sorrel, is an English breed of draught horse. The breed takes the first part of its name from the county of Suffolk in East Anglia, and the name "Punch" from its solid appearance and strength. It is a heavy draught horse which is always chestnut in colour, traditionally spelled "chesnut" by the breed registries. Suffolk Punches are known as good doers, and tend to have energetic gaits.

Landrace

A landrace is a domesticated, locally adapted, traditional variety of a species of animal or plant that has developed over time, through adaptation to its natural and cultural environment of agriculture and pastoralism, and due to isolation from other populations of the species. Landraces are generally distinguished from cultivars, and from breeds in the standardized sense, although the term landrace breed is sometimes used as distinguished from the term standardized breed when referring to cattle.

American Pygmy

The American Pygmy is an American breed of achondroplastic goat. It is small, compact and stockily built. Like the Nigerian Dwarf, it derives from the West African Dwarf group of breeds of West Africa. Between 1930 and 1960, animals of this type were imported to the United States for use either as zoo animals or for research; some were later kept and bred as companion animals and established as a breed in 1975. It may also be known as the Pygmy or African Pygmy. It is quite different and separate from the British Pygmy breed.

Belted Galloway

The Belted Galloway is a traditional Scottish breed of beef cattle. It derives from the Galloway cattle of the Galloway region of south-western Scotland, and was established as a separate breed in 1921. It is adapted to living on the poor upland pastures and windswept moorlands of the region. The exact origin of the breed is unclear, although the white belt for which they are named – and which distinguishes the breed from the native black Galloway cattle – is often surmised to be the result of cross-breeding with the similarly-coloured Dutch Lakenvelder breed.

Scots Dumpy Scottish breed of creeper chicken

The Scots Dumpy is a traditional Scottish breed of chicken. It is characterised by very short legs, so short that the body is a few centimetres from the ground; as in other breeds of creeper chicken, this chondrodystrophy is caused by a recessive lethal allele. The Dumpy has at times been known by other names, among them Bakie, Corlaigh, Crawler, Creeper and Stumpy. There are both standard-sized and bantam Scots Dumpies. It is one of two Scottish breeds of chicken, the other being the Scots Grey.

Randall Lineback American breed of cattle

The Randall Lineback or Randall is an American breed of cattle. It originated in Sunderland, Vermont, and is critically endangered.

Rare Breeds Survival Trust Conservation charity in the United Kingdom

The Rare Breeds Survival Trust is a conservation charity whose purpose is to secure the continued existence and viability of the native farm animal genetic resources (FAnGR) of the United Kingdom. It was founded in 1973 by Joe Henson to preserve native breeds; since then, no UK-native breed has become extinct.

Dorset Horn British breed of sheep

The Dorset Horn is an endangered British breed of domestic sheep. It is documented from the seventeenth century, and is highly prolific, sometimes producing two lambing seasons per year. Among British sheep, it is the only breed capable of breeding throughout the winter.

Toulouse goose

The Toulouse is a French breed of large domestic goose, originally from the area of Toulouse in south-western France. Two types are recognised: a heavy industrial type with dewlaps, the French: Oie de Toulouse à bavette; and a slightly lighter agricultural type without dewlaps, the French: Oie de Toulouse sans bavette. Both types are large, with weights of up to 9 kg. Birds bred in the United Kingdom and United States exclusively for showing may be still larger, and have a somewhat different conformation.

The Livestock Conservancy US conservation organization for livestock breeds

The Livestock Conservancy, formerly known as the American Livestock Breeds Conservancy (ALBC) and prior to that, the American Minor Breeds Conservancy, is a nonprofit organization focused on preserving and promoting rare breeds, also known as "heritage breeds" of livestock. Founded in 1977, through the efforts of livestock breed enthusiasts concerned about the disappearance of many of the US's heritage livestock breeds, the Conservancy was the pioneer livestock preservation organization in the United States, and remains a leading organization in that field. It has initiated programs that have saved multiple breeds from extinction, and works closely with similar organizations in other countries, including Rare Breeds Canada. With 3,000 members, a staff of nine and a 19-member board of directors, the organization has an operating budget of almost half a million dollars.

Golden Guernsey

The Golden Guernsey is a rare breed of dairy goat from Guernsey in the Channel Islands, where it has been known for more than two hundred years.

Large Black pig British breed of domestic pig

The Large Black pig is a British breed of domestic pig. It is the only British pig that is entirely black. It was created in the last years of the nineteenth century by merging the black pig populations of Devon and Cornwall in the south-west with those of Essex, Suffolk and Kent in the south-east. It is hardy, docile and prolific; it forages well and is suitable for extensive farming, but not well suited to intensive management.

The Nankin Bantam or Nankin is a British bantam breed of chicken. It is a true bantam, a naturally small breed with no large counterpart from which it was miniaturised. It is of South-east Asian origin, and is among the oldest bantam breeds. It is a yellowish buff colour, and the name is thought to derive from the colour of nankeen cotton from China.

Boreray sheep

The Boreray, also known as the Boreray Blackface or Hebridean Blackface, is a breed of sheep originating on the St Kilda archipelago off the west coast of Scotland and surviving as a feral animal on one of the islands, Boreray. The breed was once reared for meat and wool, but is now used mainly for conservation grazing. The Boreray is one of the Northern European short-tailed sheep group of breeds.

Hook Bill Breed of domestic duck

The Hook Bill or Dutch Hookbill is a breed of domestic duck characterised by an unusual down-curved beak. It is an ancient breed, and has been documented since the seventeenth century. Speculation that it originated in Asia, or is related to the Indian Runner, is apparently unsubstantiated.

Irish goat

The Irish Goat is a traditional Irish breed of domestic goat. It is a dual-purpose breed, used both for meat and for milk. It is an endangered breed, and may survive only in feral populations. It is distinct from the feral Bilberry Goat of Waterford.

The Blue Albion was a British breed of cattle with an unusual blue roan coat. It originated in the English Midlands in the late nineteenth or early twentieth century, and was a dual-purpose breed, reared both for beef and for milk. It became extinct following the foot-and-mouth outbreak of 1967.

Vaynol cattle UK cattle breed

The Vaynol is one of the United Kingdom's rarest breeds of cattle with less than 150 breeding animals registered. The breed is currently listed as “critical” on the Rare Breed Survival Trust list. There are currently three officially registered herds of Vaynol cattle existing in the United Kingdom. Together with the Chillingham and White Park cattle the Vaynol is one of three horned breeds derived from ancient white parkland herds from Britain and Ireland. These park cattle were also the basis of a similar fourth breed, the polled British White.

References

Citations

  1. ↑ Dohner 2002 [ page needed ]
  2. ↑ "Manx Loaghtan". Rare Breeds Survival Trust watch list. Archived from the original on 29 August 2009. Retrieved 8 June 2008.
  3. ↑ Sponenberg & Bixby 2007, p. 8.
  4. ↑ Sponenberg & Bixby 2007, p. 7.
  5. ↑ Sponenberg & Bixby 2007, p. 8–9.
  6. ↑ "Parameters of Breeds on the Conservation Priority List". The Livestock Conservancy. Retrieved 11 March 2014.
  7. 1 2 "Watchlist". Rare Breeds Survival Trust. Archived from the original on 17 January 2014. Retrieved 11 March 2014.
  8. ↑ "Breed Classification" (PDF). Poultryclub.org. Retrieved 11 March 2014.
  9. ↑ Hams 1999, p. 38.
  10. ↑ "Breed Standards 2016-2020" (PDF). The British Rabbit Council (BRC). Retrieved 26 February 2018.
  11. ↑ "About". Rare Varieties Rabbit Club (RVRC). Retrieved 26 February 2018.
  12. ↑ Yarwood & Evans 1999, p. 80.
  13. ↑ Dohner 2002, p. 182-183.
  14. ↑ FAO. 2015. The State of the World's Animal Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture. Rome.
  15. ↑ FAO. 2013. In vivo conservation of animal genetic resources. FAO Animal Production and Health Guidelines.
  16. ↑ FAO. 2012. Cryoconservation of animal genetic resources. FAO Animal Production and Health Guidelines. No. 12. Rome.
  17. ↑ "New Classified Service for Rare Breeds and Rare Breed Products". Grit.com. 2009-08-28. Retrieved 11 March 2014.
  18. ↑ Yarwood & Evans 1999, p. 81–83.
  19. ↑ Yarwood & Evans 1999, p. 81.
  20. ↑ Yarwood & Evans 1999, p. 83.

Bibliography

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